1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a treatment for a Plantar Fasciitis, acute ankle sprains, tendonitis, tendon ruptures, acute foot pain, or other conditions and in particular to a splint or boot for immobilizing the human foot and ankle. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a night splint for stretching ankle tendons, which can be converted to a durable walking boot with minimal complexity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the area of orthotic splints, the prior art has generally evolved into two distinct designs, walking boots and splints.
Walking boots are generally study, heavy and designed to support the patients weight during walking or other ambulatory activities. Examples of walking boots may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,773, U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,760 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,623. Each of these devices is designed to restrict the flexing of the human foot with respect to the lower leg and frequently such boots include adjustable hinge mounts so that the amount of Dorsi flexion or Plantar flexion may be accurately described and controlled.
Splints on the other hand are typically lightweight and designed to be worn while the patient sleeps or during other periods of extended inactivity. Examples of splints may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,865, U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,350, U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,520 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,232. Each of these splints is lightweight and designed to be worn either with a conventional shoe or, alternatively, while the patient sleeps or during an extended period of inactivity.
This dichotomy between the two design philosophies has resulted in some difficulty for patients whose medical treatment requires that the movement of their foot or ankle be restricted during long periods of time, but who cannot sleep with a heavy durable walking splint in place or cannot walk while wearing a lightweight night splint. A similar problem had existed when the ankle is immobilized utilizing a plaster or fiberglass cast. Recognizing this difficulty, several inventors have attempted to provide cast protective devices, which could be slipped over the foot portion of a plaster or fiberglass cast to protect the cast while permitting the wearer some degree of mobility. Excellent examples of these devices may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,424 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,704.
The desirability of a lightweight night splint which may be modified to permit the patient to become ambulatory is known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,841, issued to William D. Lamont, discloses a medical boot which includes a lightweight night splint device and which includes a durable fabric material which may be temporarily attached to the bottom of the boot to permit some ambulation on the part of the patient. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,570 issued to the same inventor, discloses a boot, which may be wrapped around the night splint and patients ankle to permit the user to ambulate while wearing a night splint.
Upon reference to these last two patents, it should be apparent that while providing an excellent solution to the problem of ambulation while wearing a lightweight night splint, neither of these designs provides anywhere near the weight bearing durability of typical walking boot splints and consequently, it would be desirable to provide a method or system whereby a lightweight night splint may be efficiently converted to a walking boot without undue complexity.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved treatment for Plantar Fasciitis, acute ankle sprains, tendonitis, tendon ruptures, acute foot pain, or other conditions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved splint for immobilizing the human foot and ankle.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a splint for stretching ankle tendons during periods of inactivity, which can be converted to a walking boot with minimal complexity.
The foregoing objects are achieved as is now described. A frequent method of treating Plantar Fasciitis, acute ankle sprains, tendonitis, tendon ruptures, acute foot pain, or other conditions is a so-called night splint which may be utilized by a patient while sleeping, or during other periods of extended inactivity, to maintain a desired orientation between a patient""s foot and lower leg, thus stretching ankle tendons. A night splint portion includes a thin, lightweight sole portion not suitable for walking or other weight bearing activities; however, a sturdy raised lip around the sole portion includes multiple mounting slots which temporarily mate with matching mounting tabs on a walking boot attachment which includes a sturdy, weight bearing sole so that a patient may temporarily convert the night splint to a walking boot.